Alex's second attempt to break out of Furnace Penitentiary has failed. This time his punishment will be much worse than before. Because in the hidden, bloodstained laboratories beneath the prison, he will be made into a monster. As the warden pumps something evil into his veins--a sinisterly dark nectar--Alex becomes what he most fears . . . a superhuman minion of Furnace. How can he escape when the darkness is inside him? How can he lead the way to freedom if he is lost to himself?

“And if there’s nothing left of you but darkness, how can you not become a monster?”

After Alex, Simon, and Zee failed in their second attempt to escape Furnace Penitentiary, Readers are left wondering what will become of them now they’re in the Warden’s evil clutches. Author Alexander Gordon Smith delivers another riveting entry to his Escape From Furnace series with Death Sentence. In this novel, Alex has been captured following his failed escape up the chimney and discovers firsthand the secrets of the prison. This book was even more horrific than the previous novels in that it dealt more with the ideas of what makes us … us, the dichotomy of good and evil, and whether or not someone can experience horrors yet remain unchanged.

While the previous novel had more gross-out scares, this one seemed to possess more psychological horror. Readers experience Alex’s captivity, brainwashing, and horrible body modifications. Many of the scenes of Alex in the prison hospital reminded me of A Clockwork Orange. The Warden works to eradicate everything that makes Alex the character we’ve rooted for, and coupled with everything he has experienced since his incarceration I was left wondering if Alex would survive. This added a different level of suspense than existed in the previous novels. Now, readers don’t just worry for Alex’s safety, but whether he’ll remain with any of his humanity intact.

Though Alex went through a lot in this book, it still felt like a bridge from the second to the fourth novel. I honestly don’t know if this has to do with Smith’s writing or the fact I know that there are two books after Death Sentence. Sadly, I will admit that this knowledge removed some of the danger of Alex dying in the book. Luckily, the idea that Alex could become a “soldier of Furnace” became more of a possibility and allowed the book to stay as suspenseful as the other two. Even though this book read like a bridge from one book to the next, it still was an addictive read that left me glued to the book from one page to the next.